“Not very unlike the experience of the man that built himself a palace of moon-beams, and when the moon set was surprised that his palace vanished with it.”
—Herman Melville, The Confidence-Man
Regulators may be nervous about workers staking their retirements on crypto. The United States Department Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (the “DOL”) recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 to provide official guidance on 401(k) plan investments in cryptocurrencies. Noting “serious concerns” with the growing number of firms marketing cryptocurrencies to participants as investment options for 401(k) plans, the DOL warns plan fiduciaries to proceed with extreme care and at their peril.
The DOL identifies what it considers several major risks:
